Welcome To “Awesome World”

Welcome to “Awesome World”.  Sounds pretty neat right?  If you’re lucky enough to catch even one airing of the biggest show on Sattelite Radio, you will know exactly just how “awesome” it is.  I will start by introducing myself, and why I am living in an awesome world. My name is Brett Turcotte and I was born and raised in the interior mountain ranges of BC, which is an awesome place itself!  I started my journey to awesome world at a very young age.  At the ripe and ginger age of 13 I signed my first professional snowmobile racing contract with one of the biggest names in the industry, Blair Morgan. I am now 23 years old and would like to fill in the gaps between then and now on my journey into my awesome world.  I started on two wheels racing moto-x throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s.  After some injury plagued years I decided to take a new approach to racing, and began to pursue the life of a professional Sn0-x racer.  In the past ten years I have been able to experience things that some grown adults will never, and that is pretty awesome! I have to say that it was a great run, and it makes me proud to look at my 2008 Winter X Games Silver Medal, and say that I came and conquered what I wanted to do in the snowmobiling world, that’s pretty awesome!  With the silver medal, came my induction into Jason Ellis’ “Awesome World”, a fantasy land that is far more crazy than life itself.  I have moved on from the racing aspect, and have taken a new lead in life.  I am happy to say that I have a full time job, a wife, and two amazing little kids, that keep my days filled full of fun and adventure!

I first picked up a mountain bike 4 years ago, at a local shop in the heart of Kamloops BC, a tiny little shop that is known for its awesomeness all around the world,  “The Bicycle Cafe”.  I got pulled into biking by a friend of mine, who always had good things to say about the shop, so when I decided it was time for a bike.  I knew exactly where to go.  I walked in and was greeted by two of the most friendly people in the Kamloops (maybe worldwide) biking community.  Cheryl and Taylor.   After a short evaluation on my riding preference and talent level, I was on my way out the door to KBR (Kamloops Bike Ranch).  It seems as it was a whirlwind from there, as I have found myself looking back on the last 4 years in sheer disbelief.  I have had a great time learning new things, riding new places, and meeting new friends. I have a new love for the sport of mountain biking, and I would have to say that it is one of the most enjoyable things in my life right now.  I find myself wanting to push my limits every time I step on my bike, and when I look back at my day of riding, I feel a sense of accomplishment.  That to me is my love for the sport of mountain biking.

I was approached earlier this spring by Matt Brooks, of Lone Wolf Productions, when he witnessed Aggy and I shredding hard in Kamloops at the ranch.  He had mentioned that he was looking to fill the spot for the CAFE riders segment, in this years Lone Wolf Video Sections.  I jumped at the opportunity, and couldn’t wait to give back the support to my local shop, as they have helped me out tremendously to get me where I am today.  Aggy and I finished out our day, and on the drive home I found myself day dreaming of what I wanted my segment to look like.  A couple weeks had passed, and in the mean time, I had dug a line specifically for my segment, in hopes of capturing “the” shot for my segment.  All my hopes were dashed as a couple days later when I came across photos of several other riders, riding and capturing shots on my line.  I instantly called the Lone Wolf crew, and told them I was ready to slay!

My section was filmed in a short period of two days, and looking back on it now, I am definately impressed, and amazed at the work myself, and the filmer/editors put in.  My first day was on my small bike; a brand new Kona Shonky that I had just built up, and was eager to ride.  I met up with the crew in the afternoon, and we began our shoot.  After a couple of warm up runs, I was ready to go for it.  I started pulling all my big tricks, and was feeling really good about how my ride was going, right up until I came short on a superflip, and launched myself into a massive wall, going head and hands first.  I prepped for the worst.  After the dust had settled, I was feeling a little shaky, and called it a day on the small bike.  Feeling a little let down, and frustrated, I had a short meeting with the guys, and agreed on doing a big mountain day the next time we had good light.  After a short healing period of 2 days, I found myself strapping up for descents on my Kona Stinky, In front of the Lone Wolf camera.  Shortly after we started shooting, catastraphy struck, when my derailleur got caught up in my wheel, busting numerous spokes, and shredding my derailleur to pieces. After assessing the situation, we decided to head down the hill and try to salvage what we could for the rest of the day.  With no abundance of tools , I began to knock on people’s doors, in search of anything to remove my chain, so I could go chainless!  A couple knocks later, I found myself with a hack saw in hand, a chain that was perfectly cut in half, and a derailleur laying on the ground.  It was now game ON!  Matt and I headed back up the hill, in search of some gravity fed lines, that I could ride chainless.  Needless to say it was an adventure, without the tension of the chain on the sprockets, my crank arms wanted to spin like crazy whenever I took my feet of the pedals. Plan “B”.  I dug through my back pack and found a plastic bag.  It was perfect, as I used it for a crank stopper, and was soon tricking everything again, including a very sketchy drop which had a flat run in.  I had to run beside my bike, hop on, and get ready for a no foot can, VERY technical, and sketchy to say the least!  We banged out a few more shots, and finished things up on a nice ramp to dirt step down.  I could feel my rear wheel progressively getting worse, and decided to call it a day.

I learned a lot of things about myself during these two days of shooting. I found a true passion for the sport I love, and would easily say that it was one of the toughest segments to pull off.  All things were stacking up against me, and it makes me feel a lot better now looking back and seeing that all the hard work, and perseverance paid off.  I would like to thank Matt from Lone Wolf Productions, as well as Cheryl and Taylor from the Bicycle Cafe.  I owe it all to them, as they are working hard to make my presence known, and giving me all the tools to be successful, and have fun on my bike.  I would also like to thank all my local riding buddies, Aggy, Jake, Kris, Dylan, Russo, Riffel, Bubba…for helping me push my limits every time I hang on the bars and step on the pedals!

Happy Trails….

Brett